MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

The US postpones residence visa interviews at all its consulates

The measure mainly affects family- and employment-based residence applicants processing their cases through a consulate

The United States State Department has instructed its embassies and consulates worldwide to reschedule immigrant visa interviews, the category covering applicants for permanent residence from abroad, while consular officers complete a training programme on admissibility criteria.

“In early August, we launched a global training initiative at all of our embassies and consulates worldwide. To accommodate this in-depth training, appointments for visa services will be adjusted,” a department spokesperson said. Spokesman Tommy Pigott added that the aim is “ensuring that visa applicants are not likely to become a public charge, as defined under US law and regulation.” The department has not specified how long the training will last or when normal scheduling will resume.

The measure mainly affects family- and employment-based residence applicants processing their cases through a consulate. Available information does not establish a general suspension of non-immigrant visa interviews, such as those for tourism, business or study, although the official wording is ambiguous in referring generically to “visa services.” Applicants with confirmed appointments have received emails informing them of rescheduling, with no alternative date. Queues formed outside the US embassy in Bogotá of people seeking information after their appointments were cancelled.

Public charge inadmissibility is already part of US immigration law, under section 212(a)(4) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, and allows a visa to be refused when an applicant is deemed likely to become dependent on certain public benefits. What is new is the emphasis on how consular officers apply that criterion.

The decision forms part of a sequence of recent measures. On August 5 the State Department announced a programme empowering consular officers to require certain applicants to post a public charge bond, which in some cases allows an inadmissibility finding to be overcome. In July the administration also proposed steep new fees for certain work visas.

The postponement comes four days after federal judge Jeannette Vargas struck down, on August 21, the policy suspending the issuance of immigrant visas to applicants from 75 countries. She concluded that the State Department lacked the legal authority for that measure, which was likewise founded on the public charge criterion.

Human rights organisations have questioned the administration's immigration measures as a whole, describing them as discriminatory and contrary to due process guarantees.